Busy, busy, busy. Does that describe your life? It’s a struggle for most teens to balance their busy lives. For many teens, there’s constant pressure to keep up with school, extracurricular activities, sports, part-time jobs and responsibilities at home. It’s a constant juggling act and it’s easy to become overwhelmed when there are so many demands on your time.
Try Making a Balanced Life Guide
A “Balanced Life Chart” is a simple and useful tool you can use to manage your life. Start by filling in each block with the nine most important things you value in your life. The goal of the chart is to help you keep track of and balance everything in your life.
For the areas that are full, simply be mindful if one area seems to overshadow another. You may have an abundance of friends, let’s say, or work, but family or hobbies may be pushed to the side. Here are some tips.
Making Priorities and Managing Your Time
- Family – OK, we know your family can be aggravating at times. But it’s important to spend time with your family. They’re a big part of who you are. Having a family that loves and supports you during good times and bad can be essential to overall happiness.
- Friends – As the old saying goes, “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold,” it's important to work on maintaining strong relationships and making new friends along the way. Try not to burn bridges because you never know when you may need someone’s help in the future; it’s much better to have friends than enemies.
- Hobbies and Sports – Take time every day to do something fun for yourself, like going for a run or just reading a book. This time will rejuvenate you and make it easier to go back to work or get ready for exams.
- Mental – We’re all works in progress and we can always benefit from learning. Knowledge is not limited to what you learn at school, but is an accumulation of your life’s experiences. No matter what it is, as long as it stimulates your mind, you are learning.
- Spirituality – Having a strong faith can carry you through difficult times. Some people may find that in the form of religion, but others can find spiritual growth through meditation and other forms of spiritual enlightenment.
- Health – Stay healthy by eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly.
- Work – Whether you have a part-time job after school or do volunteer work, try to find something that you enjoy doing. You could gain valuable experience, make new friends, and it could possibly lead to a future career.
- Financial – Save and invest your money to plan for the future. Even though you’re young, these days it makes more sense than ever to learn about how to safeguard your money.
- Goals – Think about some realistic short-term goals that you can see yourself achieving within a month, such as getting a part-time job or finishing a big project. Then think about some long-term goals, such as being an architect, performing at Carnegie Hall or climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Choose goals that ignite your passion and shoot for the stars. Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, whose father taught him to set goals too big to accomplish in a lifetime, says “You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.”
Set Priorities
In today’s busy world, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to be popular and getting distracted by messages portrayed in the media, but your life will be more meaningful if you follow the path that is right for you. But remember, having a balanced life or being well-rounded does not mean that you should become an overachiever. You don’t have to be class president, captain of the football team or the smartest person in your class.
Follow A Roadmap
Emotional balance can help you keep things in perspective.
